james_ellroyfandomcom-20200213-history
Dudley Smith
"Your future is in Los Angeles, son. I can get you on the police force. You can fuck movie stars and create mischief." - Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. to Dudley Liam Smith, 1921 Dudley Smith Dudley Liam Smith is a character who appears in James Ellroy's First L.A. Quartet, Second L.A. Quartet, as well as a stand-alone novel, Clandestine. Dudley is one of the four main protagonists of Perfidia, and he plays a major role in the story arc of the First Quartet. Introduced as a robust, Irish-born Catholic policeman with a brogue accent, Dudley is one of Ellroy's most recognizable characters - aside from being a rather proficient detective, he is portrayed as a strong, manipulative thug who's willing to hurt, strongarm, deceive or kill anyone who interferes with his plans and vision. Because of these qualities, as well as his actions over the Quartet's storyline, Dudley is generally thought of as a villian, although a case could be made for him being an antihero. Dudley is portrayed by James Cromwell in the 1997 film adaptation of L.A. Confidential and by Tom Nowicki in the unsold 2003 television pilot of the same name. Early life The Second L.A. Quartet (1941-?) Perfidia (1941) Part One: The Japs (December 6 - December 11, 1941) Part Two: The Chinks (December 11 - December 19, 1941) Part Three: The Fifth Column (December 19 - December 24, 1941) Part Four: The Huntress (December 27 - December 29, 1941) This Storm (1942) Part One: Rain (December 31, 1941 - January 23, 1942) Part Two: Terpin Hydrate (January 24 - February 25, 1942) Part Three: Sinarquismo (February 28 - March 25, 1942) Part Four: The Huntress (December 27 - December 29, 1941) Part Five: Realpolitik (April 3 - April 28, 1942) Part Six: Kameraden (April 29 - May 8, 1942) The L.A. Quartet (1947-1958) The Big Nowhere (1949-1950) Part I: Red Crosscurrents Part II: Upshaw, Considine, Meeks Part III: Wolverine Part IV: The Red L.A. Confidential (1950-1958) Prologue (February 21, 1950) L.A. Confidential picks up on the night of February 21, 1950. Having heisted Mickey Cohen's meeting a week before, Buzz Meeks is now on the run from Cohen's goons and the LAPD. In possession of 150,000 dollars and eighteen pounds of heroin after the assault, Buzz has blown fifty-six grand on "staying alive" - cars, hideouts with high risk-rates, since the inn-keepers are aware of the fact that Cohen was after him. Meeks eventually works his way to a deal with Doc Englekling, a former business associate of Cohen's - he'd take the heroin off Meeks, package it, sell it later, and get Meeks his percentage; meanwhile, Englekling's sons would help Buzz escape to Guatemala City, in exchange for fifteen thousand dollars. Meeks is told to be at the El Serrano Motel at dusk, on the night of February 21, when two "wetback runners", associates of the Englekling brothers, would drive him to a beanfield and help him escape. Armed with a 10-gauge shotgun, Meeks begins searching for the associates at the run-down motel. Shortly before dusk, the "runners" arrive - recognizing Mal Lunceford, a Hollywood station cop as one of them, Meeks realizes that he's being set up. A firefight breaks out between him and a number of assailants, leaving several of them dead. Meeks is eventually grazed by shots to his back and his feet; he later tricks the gunmen by pretending to be dead, then shooting several of them dead, seemingly victorious in the firefight. Bleeding and exhausted, Meeks is greeted by Dudley Smith, dressed in a fireman's greatcoat and wielding a gun. When Meeks tells him "Dud, you came prepared", Smith nonchalantly replies "Like the Boy Scouts, lad. And have you a valediction?" Meeks raises his weapon; however, Dudley reacts first - shooting Meeks dead, taking the heroin, and taking the cash. Part I: Bloody Christmas Part II: Nite Owl Massacre Part III: Internal Affairs Part IV: Destination: Morgue Part V: After You've Gone Clandestine (1951-1955) Part One: Last Season Part Two: Death By Strangulation Part Three: Time, Out Of Time Part Four: The Crime Against Marcella Part Five: Wisconsin Dutch White Jazz (1958) Part I: Straight Life Part II: Vampira Part III: Darktown Red Part IV: Money Jungle Part V: Hushabye Later life (1958-) = Category:Characters